The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for transmitting and receiving information through radio communications.
In recent years, a variety of communications architectures have been structured with advancements of information processing apparatuses. There can be given a multiplicity of examples such as television broadcasting and radio broadcasting in the form of one-way communications oriented to a multiplicity of unspecified receivers, and a portable telephone and a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) etc., in the form of bidirectional communications between specified individuals.
Further, with a preparation of the INTERNET in recent years, it is feasible to have an easy access to WWW (World Wide Web) information in the world. Hypertext information mixed with texts and images, which are used therefor, are going to be settled down as new information expressing means.
In providing the WWW information through the INTERNET, however, the world-wide information can be collected, and while on the other hand there has not yet been established such a technology as to certainly activate communications between target users in a given local area by transmitting the information to within this local area.
What is known in this connection is a technology for combining television broadcasting with INTERNET, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-162818. According to this technique shown therein, domain information of INTERNET is multiplexed in TV broadcasting signals and then transmitted.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-122173 by the present application discloses a technique of transferring from a base station the information exhibiting a prompt reporting characteristic such as newspaper to portable terminal devices by feeble radio waves. Moreover, there is also known a technique of distributing the information only to the users existing in a specified area by using local media such as a mini-FM station.
Those techniques might be effective in combining the INTERNET technology with the broadcasting technology and providing the information to a specified local area.
Each of those conventional techniques, however, deals with the one-way communications from the broadcasting station to the users. Accordingly, the users are unable to readily transmit the information to each other in the same manner as receiving the information.